When the Witch Met the Elf
by Goddess Virgo of the Fae
Summary: When Gandalf feels that he alone will not be enough to face Saruman and his magical forces, he must ask his old friend Albus Dumbledore for help, taking with him Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. While there, Legolas meets the intriguing Hermione Granger and
1. Reason for Entering

When the Witch Met the Elf  
  
By: Goddess Virgo of the Fae  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, no matter how obsessed I am with several of the movie-verse characters (a.k.a.- Harry, Draco, Oliver, Snape, and Legolas {What? I have eyes.}). They belong to J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien.  
  
Summary: When Gandalf feels that he alone will not be enough to face Saruman and his magical forces, he must ask his old friend Albus Dumbledore for help, taking with him Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas.  
  
Rating: I'm going to say it's at PG at the moment, but the rating may change.  
  
Author's Note: I searched for a while for a crossover between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter where Hermione and Legolas get together and eventually, I found a couple, but I'm still searching for more. So basically, this story is for me, because the lack of Hermione / Legolas stories was driving me absolutely nuts. Read and review please, please, please.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"We will stop here for the night, and I would ask you to try, my friends, to rest your weary bones. I know for a fact that come tomorrow, you will most definitely need it." Said Gandalf as he, Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas came to a clearing in the forest.  
  
"What happens tomorrow?" Asked the ranger as he began gathering sticks for a fire.  
  
"Tomorrow, we visit an old friend of mine. Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of a school for witches and wizards and we will request help from him. Though I'd felt that I would be enough, I now fear that I alone will be unable to stand against Saruman and his magical forces. Albus is a very powerful wizard and he once told me that should I ever be in need he would help as best he was able." Gandalf sat on a log from a fallen tree and Legolas and Gimli found seats on either side of him.  
  
"Where will our journey to this wizard find us Gandalf?" The elf inquired, while already he had begun fashioning arrows out of nearby stray sticks with his knife.  
  
"Most definitely not anywhere around here. Albus lives, not in Middle- Earth at all, but Earth itself. I met him around a hundred years ago during his years as a teacher to the students, his younger years. We leave at dawn, so try and get some rest." Aragorn found a place across from them on the other side of the fire. And, after having lain down, all became entranced by the flames and they each fell into a light sleep. 


	2. Finding

Hello, I'M BACK!!! I hope you've liked my story so far, and sorry if it seemed a little small, I forgot to up the font a little. I will from now on though.  
  
Well, read and review!!  
  
Chapter 2  
  
The next morning Gimli was the last to rise. He would've slept longer had Aragorn not, on Gandalf's request, poured cold water from a nearby stream on his head. "Good morn Sir Dwarf." Legolas greeted him, having a hard time keeping a straight face as he watched the shorter being sputter. Silently, he was passed some bread and once he'd finished they all stood and readied themselves to leave.  
  
They'd been walking for only an hour or so when Gandalf stopped them in front of a huge tree. The tree was taller than many around it and its trunk was thicker than the leg of an oliphaunt. "This should do perfectly." The old wizard said as he began walking around the tree, tapping it with his staff every now and then and nodding to himself. "Yes this will do famously." Looking up the tree trunk, he cleared his throat and spoke, "Please, do excuse me, but I was wondering if I would be allowed to ask a favor from you. You see, I need a tree to make a sort of magical doorway and, you happen to have the perfect characteristics for my spell. It wouldn't hurt a bit." Just when he was about to ask again, the tree made a strange groaning sound, as if it was about to fall.  
  
"Who am I?" The wizard replied to that which only he and the trees around him had understood. "Why, I am Gandalf the White." The tree groaned again. "Oh, thank you very much." Another groan. "Ah, so you will do it. Thank you for that as well." He stood a foot or so away from the tree and raising his staff into the air, he began to chant quietly to himself.  
  
The man, the elf, and the dwarf could see no change for quite some time until finally as if there was a light within the tree itself, an outline of a tall rectangle began to glow. And then it was gone. "Here we are, who wants to go first?" Gandalf asked lightly. Seeing their questioning looks, he said, "It's just like walking through a doorway, not very taxing on one's health." Legolas stepped forward and toward the newly created door. With a deep breath, unseen by the others, he pulled it open and stepped through.  
  
The world he stepped into wasn't really unlike the one he'd left, because again he was in a forest. The only major difference was the slight mist that seemed to cling to the ground as if protecting it. So caught up in his surroundings, he almost didn't move in time when Aragorn came through the door, umm, tree. After him came Gimli and then finally, after a minute, Gandalf. "Right then, welcome to the Forbidden Forest." Muttered the wizard, half to himself and half to them.  
  
After only a short walk, Legolas began seeing things that only his elvish eyes allowed him to see. Crests of some sort of towers peaked at him from the cover of the trees and noises, voices, floated to greet his ears. He looked at Gandalf, questioning him silently if what he was seeing and hearing was all right, safe, even. The wizard glanced at him, nodded, and tilted his head toward the treetops. "We've made better time that I'd thought we would."  
  
Gimli grumbled as he lifted his leg to step over a log that had given his companions far less trouble than it had he. "How much farther is it now?" He needn't have asked, as only seconds later, his question was answered. Looming ahead of them was a huge, hulking castle surrounded by rich green grass and with towers reaching to the skies.  
  
"I present you, gentlemen, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Come now let us get to the castle and I'll see if my memory has managed to retain the directions to Albus' office. If not, we'll see how his students react to our asking." Said Gandalf as he continued the walk from the edge of the forest toward the castle. The others followed him silently, still taking in the beauty and entirety of their surroundings. 


	3. The Meeting of

I just wanted to give thanks for the first two reviews I received. It meant a lot to me, because I wasn't sure anyone would really like the Hermione / Legolas pairing. Granted, I think I couldv'e lived with it if everyone hated it, but it's nice to know that that's not the way it is. Read and review please!  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Once inside, Gandalf led them up stairs, down hallways and through passages, every now and then catching the curious eyes of a stray student. When they; they being Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas; had first seen that the age of the students ranged between eleven and seventeen, they were shocked. Each asking himself if this type of place was where Gandalf had learned the things that he knew. "My friends, it is official, we are lost." And so, he stopped a small boy with blond hair who couldn't have been older then twelve and asked him, "Hello my fine young man. I am wondering if you can tell me where I could find Professor Dumbledore's office?"  
  
At first the boy just stared at them, but he soon found his voice. "N-no Sir." Gandalf let out an exasperated sigh. "B-but I could get someone who probably could." Gandalf smiled faintly at him and nodded.  
  
"Lead the way." The boy took them down a couple of short hallways, which brought them to a set of double doors with a sign over them reading 'Library'. Throwing them a meek look over his shoulder, he pushed one of the doors open and they followed him into the quiet old room. People threw the boy and his following party strange looks, each wondering what was going on. But the boy passed those students by and took them to the very back of the library.  
  
He walked up to a table that held three people, two boys and one girl. One boy had black hair, glasses and a strange scar on his forehead, while the other, deeply in contrast with him, had bright red hair and freckles dusted all over his face. The boys were talking, but stopped when the younger boy came up to them. The girl, her hair brown and waved, however, continued to read from a thick volume. Looking close enough, both the man and elf could tell that though it didn't appear to be so, she was listening intently to the words of the blond boy.  
  
The two boys jerked as they looked up at them, their eyes somewhat suspicious. The girl calmly, carefully let her eyes trail over them, as if looking deeper than what their outward appearance showed. She cocked her head to the side, eyeing both Gimli and Legolas, knowing without question that the two weren't human. She eyed all of their weapons and the very look in her eyes seemed to mockingly say, 'Shame on you, you're in a school.' Though the boy was still speaking rapidly, the three teenagers kept the new comers in their sight. Finally, after a moment, they put their books in their bags and gathered the loose library books around them. The young woman had, by far, the largest stack in her arms.  
  
They walked up to them, the black haired boy in the lead, and stopped. "Jason tells me that you're looking for the headmaster's office, just a minute and we'll take you. First, we've got to check out these books."  
  
Gandalf nodded, "Of course young man, go right ahead." They followed the trio up to a desk; Jason had gone off somewhere, where a book sat with a quill floating above its open pages. They each wrote in their names, though no one could seem to see what they wrote, and the books they were checking out.  
  
"We can take you now." The black haired boy said after they were finished. As they started out of the library, both boys took a large book off the girl's pile, making it easier for her to carry the others. "I'm Harry Potter, by the way."  
  
"Hello Harry, I am Gandalf the White." He answered, friendly. Legolas noticed, because he was the only one looking that the girl's eyes got a fraction wider at the name. "Who, may I ask, are your two silent companions?" The red head snorted and the girl rolled her eyes at the boy.  
  
"He's Ron Weasley."  
  
The other boy nodded to them and said, "Hello. So, who are your three silent companions." Gimli snorted at Ron and the others looked on, amused.  
  
"Silent, boy?! You would call me silent?!" The dwarf roared. Looking away from the girl, Legolas fought his smile, making his lips quiver only the slightest.  
  
"He," Aragorn started, gesturing to the dwarf, "is Gimli son of Gloin. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and he," he motioned to Legolas, "is Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood." Harry and Ron looked at them strangely, while the girl looked at them thoughtfully.  
  
"And who are you?" Legolas asked softly, looking at the girl, as she was the only one to not have been introduced.  
  
"I'm Hermione Granger, and from the sounds of it, you lot aren't from around here, are you?" She asked, looking like she wanted to ask something else.  
  
"What is it?" The elf asked, as they neared a statue of a gargoyle.  
  
"Nothing really." They reached the statue and she said, "Twizzler Twists." The gargoyle seemingly came to life causing everyone, save the wizards and witch, to draw their weapons. "Calm down, it's only a statue." She said as she, Harry, and Ron started up the stairs. Once they'd reached the top of the steps, and had come to a door, Harry reached out and knocked.  
  
"You needn't've come all the way with us, you know?" Gandalf asked, curious.  
  
"Oh, well Hermione and I have to get some assignments from the headmaster anyway, so it's really no bother." Harry said just as the door swung open.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Author's Note: I've gotten a couple reviews telling me that I need to make my chapters longer. The thing is, is that I've already got a few more pages written then what I've posted, but I'm just trying to break the chapters by where the subjects of the scene change.  
  
So, my deal for my readers, is as long as I have the writing to post, I'll put it all up, but I will still have shorter chapters. I hope that helps, and if it doesn't, that's gotta' suck.  
  
Thanks to my reviewers,  
  
Goddess 


	4. Explanations

Chapter 4  
  
Dumbledore, his beard and hair glowing at the edges because of the midday sun streaming in from a window, started to say hello to his students, when he caught sight of those behind them. "Gandalf!" Harry, Hermione and Ron stepped aside and the old wizards hugged each other.  
  
After a moment they broke apart and the headmaster ushered everyone into his office. He turned his attention away from his friend for a second to ask, "Harry, Hermione, if I am correct you're here for this week's Head Students assignments?" They nodded. "Please post that there will be an informal quidditch game this Saturday. Off the record," He eyed the young woman's quill, which was flying over the page by itself. With a swift movement of her wandless hand, it fell motionless on the parchment. "I feel that this will be a good thing to keep the student body from dwelling too much on recent events." The two students, plus Ron, nodded. "That's the only thing we've planned for this week, so go on and enjoy the rest of your day."  
  
Just before they got out the door, Aragorn called to them, "Thank you for your help." With smiles, the trio was gone.  
  
"Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, I would like for you to meet an old friend of mine, Albus Dumbledore. Now, recent events, Albus?" Gandalf asked, his brow creased. They all sat on a couch in front of an unlit fireplace.  
  
The man sighed heavily. "Do you remember Gandalf, when I told you last you were here that there was a young man whom I was deeply concerned for? Well, that young man grew up into the worst wizard in many a generation. Perhaps ten years after you left Voldemort, as he came to be called, was considerably weakened by Harry Potter, the boy who led you here. It was the night he lost his parents and Harry was only a baby then, but still he defeated the terror that plagued our world.  
  
"For ten years he stayed dormant, but as soon as Harry came to Hogwarts', he was back once again. As if clockwork, every year since they came, the three young students that brought you to my office face him on their own. In Harry's fourth year he rose completely, regaining his original form and most, if not all of his original strength. He is coming closer and closer to his full power, and though I'm not sure whether or not they know, he has begun to take more of an interest in Ms.Granger." Legolas found himself filled with heavy compassion for the three, especially for the girl. If this Voldemort was really going to start coming after her she would be in far more danger than anyone else, even though he'd just learned of this wizard, he knew this.  
  
Even though he didn't properly know her, Legolas already felt a strange protectiveness toward the girl. "And you, Gandalf, what brings you to our world?" Dumbledore asked, breaking the elves' thoughts.  
  
"We, as you, are plagued by our own evil." And so he told him of Sauron and Saruman, the ring, the fellowship, and of the strength of the magic with which Saruman's forces were attacking. "And so you see, we have come to ask for your aid. However, I'm beginning to think that that idea isn't going to work out, as you've your own demons to deal with." Gandalf finished, waiting for the other wizard's reaction.  
  
"Yes, Gandalf old friend, you are right. I cannot help you in this matter for Voldemort is gaining strength every second of every minute of every hour of every day."  
  
"As I thought, I'm sorry I had to bother you with my-" But Gandalf was interrupted.  
  
"I said that I could not help you, I said nothing of anyone else."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*  
  
Author's Note: So, how are we liking it so far? I would be really grateful for some feedback, so review, please! 


	5. Knowing then Defending

Chapter 5  
  
Gandalf stared curiously at his friend. "Believe it or not, I knew of the happenings of your people a while ago. But I could not chance trying to find you in the vast expanse of your world, while it was in turmoil. And so, I had to wait until you came to me. In the three years that I've been waiting, I've been teaching your ways and languages to someone. They've been taught how to fight without a wand and may I say that they are very skillful at it. Weapons that are used more frequently are both the staff and the bow, throwing knives on occasion." The headmaster said his voice actually a bit light.  
  
"Well?" Gimli grumbled. "Who is he?"  
  
Dumbledore laughed. "Why, she is Hermione Granger." There was a heavy silence.  
  
"So, you mean to tell me that that girl, young woman, is who you would send with us?" Aragorn asked, not upset, simply surprised. He received a nod in response.  
  
"Hermione, though it may not appear to be so on first glance, has a soul far older than she. Through experiences of loss and fighting, she has aged far faster than anyone I've ever met." He said, his demeanor grave. And then his voice lightened considerably. "Now, not to be rude, but would you mind too terribly if I spoke to Gandalf alone?" The two white wizards looked at them expectantly. "Explore the castle, trust me, it is enough to keep you busy." They nodded to both wizards and left the office.  
  
The three walked a bit aimlessly through the castle when, without warning Gimli got his foot caught in a trick stair. Aragorn and Legolas struggled, trying to get the dwarf's foot from the stair. They were about to resort to trying to hack the stair to bits when the sounds of footsteps echoed up from the foot of the narrow stone spiral. Suddenly, the footfalls stopped and, listening closely, they could hear that someone else was there as well. There was the sound of something heavy hitting the floor and then a voice.  
  
"Aww, did the poor mudblood drop her books?" It hissed scathingly. "Look boys, I think she might cry." Aragorn and Legolas motioned for Gimli to be silent and they slipped stealthily down the stairs. The sight that met them surprisingly upset them a great deal. Hermione Granger stood before three boys, one, the one who'd spoken, had slick blond hair and he had a foot atop one of Hermione's fallen books. The other two looked extremely large, orc-like in their size, and extremely dull. The one with blond hair pulled out his wand and put its point on her throat. "Maybe we should give her a reason to cry, what do you think Crabbe, Goyle?" The two grunted in response.  
  
Her wand, which lay fallen on the floor a foot from her, was kicked away by the one who'd been called Crabbe. And that's when it happened. The fire in her eyes seemed to grow and flowing freely, gracefully from her mouth were the elvish words for, "Leave me the hell alone, Malfoy." He looked at her strangely.  
  
"You want to repeat that except not in gibberish this time Granger?"  
  
And that would be their cue. Legolas and Aragorn stepped from their hiding place around the bend and came to stand on either side of one furious witch. "That," The elf started, "translates to something you should understand child. 'Leave me the hell alone.' That's easy enough, isn't it?" The boy, Malfoy, trained his wand on Legolas while Hermione looked curiously back and forth from man to elf, both of which who had slightly stepped in front of her, shielding her.  
  
Malfoy, his face indignant, retorted to the elf, "Do you have any idea of who you're talking to?"  
  
"No," The ranger broke in, "and we honestly don't care. Go away and leave her alone." The two stared the three boys down and finally Malfoy yielded.  
  
"This isn't over Granger, I'll talk to you later when none of your little bodyguards are around to protect you." He sneered.  
  
She glared right back. "And perhaps on that day you should be sure to have your little bodyguards around to protect you." With one last glare, he strode away, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him. With a frustrated sigh, Hermione bent down and started to pick up her fallen books, but not before she snapped her fingers and her wand came flying into her hand. Both man and elf handed her books and papers and soon she had everything back in order. "Thank you for your help. Is there any reason, aside from rescuing me from the evil Malfoy monster, that you're here?" She asked.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*  
  
Author's Note: Hello again! So how do we like it so far?  
  
Feedback, I've found is a very lovely thing for a writer to receive, so if you absolutely want to make my day, just select the little 'Review' button down there and start reviewing! 


	6. Where to go, where to go?

Last time  
  
("Thank you for your help. Is there any reason, aside from rescuing me from the evil Malfoy monster, that you're here?" She asked.)  
  
Chapter 6  
  
"We were just having a look about the castle when Gimli got his foot stuck in a stair." Aragorn explained.  
  
"Oh, and he can't get free?" They shook their heads. With a smile, she said, "Show me where he is." And so they led her up the stairs and came to Gimli, his right foot lodged inside a stone stair. "You see," She whispered, "You just have to know how to persuade some of them." Whipping out her wand and pointing it at the stair, she spoke clearly and dangerously. "Let go of his foot or I'll make you envy an ant hill for its size."  
  
Gimli pulled his foot right out, falling into the three. The fall was unavoidable and not even Legolas had had enough time to pull himself from its depths. They landed not at the bottom, but at the flat floor at the bend in the stairs. Aragorn fell farther then the others and caught himself before his head could hit the floor, Gimli landed on his butt, as he hadn't very far to fall, and Hermione. Hermione got the most comfortable spot in the castle. She'd ended up landing on top of one Mr. Legolas Greenleaf and when she opened her eyes, their faces were not but inches apart. Legolas stared at her for a few seconds, transfixed, before the dwarf grunted, breaking them from their reverie. The young witch blinked a few times and pulled herself up off the elf.  
  
"Sorry." She muttered as he gracefully picked himself up off the floor. Again she'd dropped her books, and as it was the last time, Legolas found himself beside her helping her collect her wayward things. After they were through, there was a long awkward silence, the kind of silence that happens when no one can think of anything to say. Finally, Hermione broke it. "Is there anything else I can help you gentlemen with? I haven't got anywhere in particular to be, so it would be no problem."  
  
"Well." Aragorn started, hesitant of how close they should get to the girl.  
  
"That means yes." Gimli answered, glad to finally be able to have some sort of direction in the castle of magic. "We were having a bit of trouble finding our way around." He explained.  
  
"Oh, of course you were. I was still having trouble finding things at the end of my first full school year, so I know exactly how you feel." She paused. "Where would you have me take you?" And she looked them each over, her eyes staying sharp and her face never once losing its cheery look. They could see what Dumbledore had meant, now that they all weren't doing anything, that there was an underlying age and wisdom to the girl. Her eyes, though sharp, were sad and world weary, and her face, while cheery, was only a well-built façade.  
  
"Outside somewhere." Came Legolas' answer. "Your favorite place if you like." She nodded.  
  
"I was, erm, thinking more along the lines of somewhere inside." Gimli said right after.  
  
Before the dwarf could say anything else, Aragorn spoke up. "Come Sir Dwarf, let Ms.Granger walk with Legolas and I will walk the castle with you." Gimli opened his mouth to protest, but the ranger shot him a look that stopped him in his tracks. He nodded, grumbling slightly. And so they, bidding the witch and the elf farewell, set off up the stairs.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*  
  
Author's Note: Finally, their alone together! Tell me how you're liking it so far, please! 


	7. Words, Rocks, and Arrows

Chapter 7  
  
Hermione took the lead, heading down the stairs. "Thank you for taking me outside, I don't much care for being inside on a day as lovely as this." Legolas said as they passed a window where, sure enough, the sun was shining and the clouds were fluffy and light.  
  
"I do suppose you would hate being inside on a day like this, you being an elf and all." She glanced up at him with a small smile on her face, and he grinned charmingly back at her. "What's it like?" He glanced at her, questioning. "Middle-earth, I mean. Professor Dumbledore told me about it, but he didn't really go as far into detail as I'd hoped he would." The elf was surprised that she would just start up a conversation about his home with him, a complete stranger.  
  
Instead of commenting, he shook it off. "Where I come from, Mirkwood that is, is beautiful. It's one of the woodland realms and it's most definitely, in my opinion, one of the best places in Middle-earth if one wishes for peace. The trees and grass are of the green of a shining emerald and when you look at the sky, you almost feel as though you are apart of the winds, flowing over everything." He stopped himself there. He hadn't been that innocent and wistful sounding since before his hundredth birthday, and coming from someone as old as he, that was a while.  
  
"Don't stop there," Hermione implored. "It sounds lovely and I'd like to hear more about it." And so, as they made their way out of the castle and down to the lake, Legolas spoke of Mirkwood, the war, and also of the torture his home would endure if the war were to reach it. They'd been walking around the lake for only about half an hour when Hermione came to a stop at a tall bolder that, while it would serve for trouble to an elf, it would hinder a human woman very easily in reaching the top.  
  
"Come on, up there." She said, gesturing to the top of the rock. Before he could even think of ways he was going to climb the thing she whipped out her wand and pointed it at him. " 'Wingardium Leviosa'." Suddenly, he found himself floating midair, and what was even stranger then that, he liked it. Once he was floating inches off the top of the rock, her spell let him go and he dropped to his feet, not stumbling. He didn't have to wait long before she joined him. She didn't give him a chance to say anything before she absently grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her. Again, she floated him to the top of another, taller rock, and joined him. She did this a few more times until they reached the top.  
  
From there, he realized that you could see everything around you. The school, with all of its turrets and towers, looked magnificent in the afternoon glow. "This is one of my favorite places around here. It sounds melancholy, I know, but it's at this place that I can be at peace, for I can't see or hear anything that happens down there."  
  
He looked at her, questioning her silently. She sat and he joined her on the flat of the rock. "From here, the world looks calm and peaceful, but when you're down there, you know that it's not. You know that people around you are suffering and you know that he'll catch up with you some day." He had enough insight to see that she was now speaking solely about herself and who he would guess to be Voldemort. They both remained silent and pensive for a while afterward.  
  
Thinking of a way to keep her mind off of her troubles, whatever they were, he remembered what Dumbledore had said earlier. "Your headmaster, he said something about you being good with a bow."  
  
At this, he saw a small smile light up her features. "I'm all right at it. You're an archer?" He nodded and pulled his bow from his back, handing it to her. She examined it with obvious delight, her fingers tracing over the elvish engravings of centuries past. On the inside near the top of the bow, she found a small engraving in elvish, which she quickly translated to:  
  
Pray thee for no miracles Only your aim be true  
  
She ran her fingers over the markings several times and Legolas watched her fascination with a bit of fascination of his own. He knew there was definitely something about her that struck him somehow, he'd not lie to himself. He knew this, because he hardly ever let anyone touch his bow and yet he was letting her handle and hold it.  
  
"It's beautiful." She whispered as she ran her fingers down the string. She handed it back to him and with her right hand flat in the air, she said, "Accio bow." He watched, his eyes knowing they should be trained on her hand. A moment later she was holding a bow, not unlike his own, but in a way, very unlike it. It was hers. The wood was dark, red-brown and slightly shorter than his own, and both ends curved outward, tipped with shining silver. Their were swirled carvings in the silver tips of hers, each having a meaning, but none really making any sense to him.  
  
It was beautiful, but not because of age and use and elven making like his was, but of youth and grace. It was a young bow, for a young woman. Young, he reminded himself as he gave her the bow back, young. Far too young for anyone of his age to even think of being drawn to. Focusing himself, he stood and held out a hand to her. "Let us see what skill you have with that, then." With a half smile on her face, she took his hand and pulled herself to her feet.  
  
She bit her lip and seemed to think for a second and then, held out her hand as she had earlier and said, "Accio quiver." After only a short time her quiver, with all its arrows, had landed with its strap around her hand. She pulled a well-shaped arrow from the case, its feathers a deep navy blue and asked him, "Where would you have me shoot?"  
  
He was looking around, when his eyes fell on a huge fallen tree about twenty paces to their left, where it'd landed from an even higher ground. A broken branch on the top of the trunk became his target. Pulling an arrow from his own quiver and lining up his bow, he said, "Try for right about." He shot, his arrow hitting its mark straight on. "There."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Hermione stepped up to where he was, and from beside him, she released her arrow. It whistled through the air and hit its target, splitting Legolas' arrow right down the middle. He looked at her, surprised. 'All right at it? She thinks she's just all right at it?' With a small smile, he said, "Nicely done milady, nicely done." Smiling back, she put her quiver strap over her neck and left shoulder so she could carry it properly, and grasped her bow closer to her.  
  
"If you don't have somewhere else to be, I'd like to show you something else." She said quietly, her eyes staying locked on his.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Author's Note: Sorry for not posting for awhile, I've been kind of lazy lately. Not a good excuse, I know, but who ever said I was trying to excuse myself? ~lol~ Review and tell me what you think so far.  
  
Goddess 


	8. Author's Note

~*~*~*~* This is not a chapter, I repeat, this is NOT a chapter!!!!! *~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Hey all, I figured it was time that I do the thing where I thank everyone who's reviewed so far. So, here it goes.  
To everyone who've had good things to say and people who've given me constructive criticism, I thank you. I've never been really without confidence about my writing, but to get reviews from you people, it makes me feel great and it brings my confidence up even higher then it was to start with.  
I'm surprised, but happy to say that I've yet to get flamed, so that makes it even better. And I know that now that I've said this, someone's probably going to flame just because they can, but hey, you can't always get what you want.  
So again, THANK YOU!  
Goddess 


	9. Confessions in the Secret Garden

Chapter 8  
  
"Of course." He replied. Slipping his bow back into place, he followed her down the opposite side of the rock that they'd come up, this side far easier to climb without magic than the other. Once they'd reached flat ground, she led him for about a mile away from the lake. They stopped when they came to a wall made completely of tightly knit vines, all covered in different types of flowers.  
  
"Stay away from the wall please, some of these flowers aren't very nice." Just as the words left her mouth, a beautiful purple and yellow flower about the size of his hand, sprung out at Legolas, opening up to reveal razor sharp silver teeth. He moved away from the vicious looking plant and watched as Hermione, wand pointed at the wall, said, "Where only angels dare to tread." The vines slithered away from where she'd pointed to show a small wooden door in a stone wall.  
  
The door was only about a meter and a half tall and half a meter wide. As he bent and passed through the door after Hermione, he thanked his ancestors for the inherited trait of slenderness. Once they got inside, he didn't think of heritage or anything else for that matter. The assorted flowers, waterfalls, ponds, trees, animals, everything about the place captured him with their beauty. It reminded him of his home. "It's beautiful here." He whispered, as not to break the serene mood that had befallen him. "It's almost like my homeland."  
  
Hermione smiled at him. "When you told me about it, I thought of this place. I found it, or rather it found me when I was fifteen years old and in my fifth year here at Hogwarts'. I loved it immediately, well, immediately after I figured out how to get in. I touched one of the flowers on accident once and ended up in the hospital for about a week while the poison was being extracted from my veins."  
  
"Oh, I would hate that," Legolas started as she led him over to a group of large stones with words burned onto them. "Being locked up in a room for a week." He copied her motions and sat beside her on one of the stones. "How were you able to stand such a thing?"  
  
"When it happened, I had just gotten the letter telling me that my grandparents had died." She studied her hands as though they held some infinite knowledge. "My parents and nearly all of my other relatives were killed by the dark wizard Voldemort earlier that summer, while I got away, so my grandparents were my legal guardians and my only remaining family. All of that combined made me a little-I really can't believe I'm telling you this." She cut herself off abruptly.  
  
"Made you a little what?" Legolas asked, his voice soft and his eyes gentle, not judging.  
  
"You're probably going to think I'm nuts." He wasn't quite sure what 'nuts' meant, but he had a pretty clear idea that it wasn't a good thing. So, as reassurance, he shook his head. Sighing, she finished her original sentence. "Everything that was happening made me a little. crazy. My mind and my body were both numb and I just wanted to, I don't know, sleep." He gazed at her for a long while, and finally, after staring almost shyly at the flowers around the edge of the rock, she asked, "What?"  
  
"I just have trouble picturing anyone wanting to hurt you." He explained softly. She looked up at him through her lashes and bit her bottom lip. After that, they stayed in the garden talking, and Legolas was surprised at feeling so relaxed, until the sun started to drop down and the light began to leave.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Author's Note: Thank you everyone! I hope you liked my Hermione's own little "secret garden". Review please!!!  
  
Goddess 


End file.
